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A Trip to Torqulon, Part 1
NCC Spaceport Very large and flat, like the NCC spaceport always has been, there remains the room for spaceships and aircraft of all shapes and sizes to land and take off, whether they're equipped with VTOL or not. The large hangers, warehouses for incoming supplies, and maintenance stations are still there, although now they seem to mostly exist on the northwest edge of the area. Where once the runways were silver Cybertronian, an impurity has been added to give the whole area a frost-blue tint. Also new are the rows of sharp, jagged, upward pointing structures to the north and south that crowd together enough to make passage difficult without flight. Beyond the southern border that these provide is the sparkling ocean, and far behind the north edge, the distant peak of Mount R'Lyeh can be spied. Past the hangers and warehouses is the raised structure of the Command Center, set atop a maze of metallic supports that appear to the eye no sturdier than dandelion fluff, but in fact are more than sufficient to serve as support for the Empire's commanders while at the same time cushioning it from the vibrations caused by the activities of the spaceport. Several passages wind their way beneath the Command Center, allowing individuals access to the Spinal Pathway without having to first pass through the nerve center of the city. Contents: Decepticon Command Shuttle Decepticon Shuttle Decepticon Shuttle Decepticon Shuttle Reaver Shuttle Hinder has arrived. Several nameless Decepticons are here, rolling some strange unfamiliar...and shiny new...pieces of equipment into the Conquest II shuttle. Soundwave stands in front of the shuttle's loading ramp, with a holographic projection of some sort of list coming from his chest. He seems to be checking off the items as they are loaded into the shuttle. Soundwave says, "Decepticon assistance is required on the Torqulon mission. Hinder, report current missions status. Inquiry: available to assist with reconnaisance during research period?" Rewind has arrived. Polarity may be a Seeker, but he's got a name and non-generic enough to get out of boring menial labor like loading stuff into a shuttle. So he's just standing by with his arms crossed, assigned as 'guard' to this mission since his forcefields might come in useful considering the weird shit that's happened on Torqulon in the past. Eh, it's not the first time he's gotten stuck on guard duty due to his ability, so he's not going to complain. Out loud at least. Two of the workers fidget with three large metal straps over a crate of equipment that looks almost too large to fit through the door of the shuttle. One of them stands back and pulls out a scanning device, which fans a large red sweeping beam over the crate. He shakes his head, shrugs his shoulders, and the two continue wheeling the crate into the shuttle. Hinder radios an acknowledment in reply to Soundwave, then arrives with the next shuttle arriving. She's gotten good about hitching rides. Within minutes she's shuffling up next to Soundwave and looking up at him. Soundwave says, "Polarity, attention: Risk factors involved with research on Torqulon suggest significant oppositional threats from Torqulon natives in addition to possible Autobot interference." Polarity bobs his head in a nod a bit. "They like to do freaky mind tricks and stuff, I've heard." Not the brightest of soldiers, but he -does- read reports at least, so that's something right? Plus he's smirking a bit. "I'm curious to see what this little surprise of yours is gonna be, anyways." Air Raid has arrived. Hinder watches the overlarge crate being loaded, and then on a whim bounds over toward the shuttle to snuffle at it. She's curious about the contents. The workers go back and retrieve yet another pice of equipment on wheels, this one seems to have all sorts of antennae coming off it, and a bundle of heavy cable is bound to one side, again with rather beefy looking metal straps. Soundwave doesn't play around when it comes to gear. Rewind meanwhile makes a scale model of Autobot City out of packing foam in the dark lit only by the glow of his optics. Hinder loses interest in the large crate and shuffles over to sniff curiously at bristly bundle. This is fun! Polarity whistles a bit at the device, and rocks on his heel-thrusters briefly in anticipation. This was going to be a lot more interesting than the boring old expeditions he use to get assigned to guarding, that was for certain! Because you know any device that has a lot of antennae and blinking lights has got to be serious business. From behind one of the equipment stacks in a hangar bay, a worker pushes a small wheeled pallet into the loading area, whilst wearing a very uneasy look on his face, and it's easy to see why. The pallet contains a medium Transformer-sized bare metal seat, with armrests. Several-foot-thick metal clamps are positioned on several areas of the seat. A mass of stiff silver cables resembling spider legs are poised around the seat in even porportion, with large, sterile looking anodes on the end - saucerlike featureless discs save for the small ruby-like translucent dots in the center. Soundwave stops the worker - who steps back hastily, with a look of relief on his face - and checks the clasps and cabling by hand, ticking off more boxes on the checklist. "Geez, that thing looks like it came right outta the torture room. Or the execution chamber." But that just makes Polarity smirk more than anything else. "Maybe he's going to give someone a real re-volt-ing experience. Nyehehehe." Oi, the puns. Hinder bounds over to sniff at the neato chair, but after a glance at Soundwave is very careful to not actually touch it. Soundwave finishes checking the seat, and signals the worker to wheel it in to the shuttle as another crate is wheeled up behind. The unmistakable magnetic field of high concentrations of energy emits from it. A large plate is welded to the side of the corrugated metal crate, marked "COMPRESSED ENERGON CONTAINMENT SYSTEM. HANDLE WITH EXTREME CAUTION." Soundwave scans this crate quickly as it passes, and keeps a careful eye on the workers as they load it. Primus help them all if that crate be jostled the wrong way. Hinder skitters over to hide behind Soundwave's ankle until the compressed energon container is safely in the shuttle. Polarity ... Polarity gets noticably a little edgy as that last crate is wheeled in, and takes several steps back as it's moved along to the shuttle. He can just -feel- the magnetic fields coming from it, and moves a safe distance away so he doesn't accidentally set it off or something. Even though he's got his own fields off right now, he's not entirely without a low 'residue' emission. "The successful transport and landing of the equipment within the shuttle is critical. Reason and risk factor is obvious." Soundwave says, with a cold, clean, unfettered tone. "No risk, no reward. Nuttin' worth doin' is worth doin' easy." Polarity relaxes a bit once the containment hardware is in the shuttle. The workers position the containment unit close to the oversized crate of similar dimensions in the shuttle. Soundwave ticks off a final box in his hologram, and it disappears back into his chest. "Loading of the shuttle is complete. Board and prepare for takeoff. Countdown will commence shortly." he says, stepping on to the ramp. You enter the Decepticon Shuttle . Decepticon Shuttle The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment. Outside, "I call shotgun!" Polarity abruptly blurts out as he bounds up for the shuttle. Mostly so he doesn't need to sit near the sensative equipment Polarity has arrived. Hinder has arrived. Rewind has arrived. Air Raid has arrived. Hinder clambers onto the shuttle after Soundwave then shuffles over to settle down next to the very large crate. She watches the others then idly leans over to put her teeth against one corner of the crate. Rewind watches his packing foam model of autobot city crumble as the Decepticon Shuttle moves. Soundwave sits down at the helm of the shuttle, and flips a few switches, then pushes a red button, which immediately turns green. There is a hum, then the whirr of electronics fans as the control systems of the shuttle come on line. Polarity leans back in his chair, and folds his hands behind his head. He manages to do this despite having those vents sticking up from his shoulders, yes. Hinder takes one little bite at the crate, then looks over at Soundwave. If he doesn't react immedately she leans over to nibble on it again. The 4 monitors come on above the main viewport, one of which has another nameless Decepticon with a visage similar to Shockwave, but in a cream color. His single optic flickers as he speaks in a dull tone. "Soundwave, Conquest II is set for launch. Countdown will commence on your signal." Polarity really has nothing to do for the moment. But getting a chance to actually relax is better than having to work his tailfins off or something, so he's not going to complain. Soundwave nods, and presses two buttons on the console, then flips a switch, and the ship begins to rumble as the engines start. A bank of lights on the left side of the ship blink on and off in sequence. A larger one to the right of the panel turns green, and the ship vibrates for a moment, then subsides. "Begin countdown. Ten...nine...eight...", Soundwave says. Air Raid has been sharing Rewind's crate, positioned awkwardly and somehow passed out with a bottle of high grade. He rouses when the shuttle shifts, blinking amongst the foam packing peanets. "Whuff... We there yet?" he whispers to Rewind, then pauses upon hearing the voice from the monitor. "Slag, we haven't taken off yet? I'm never flying ConAir again, this is poor service." Hinder is in mid-nibble of the overlarge crate when she freezes. Did she just hear something? She tilts her head, listening carefully. Polarity heard nothing. Then again he's sitting in the co-pilot seat, so there's all the noise of the shuttle powering up and stuff going on around him, so he's hearing that as well. Rewind nods and murmurs amid all the sound absorbing foam packing during the rumbling of the ship, "It /has/ taken them forever to get around to launching." "seven...six...five...four...three...two...ONE!" he continues, and the shuttle vibrates, lurches, and finally rockets into the sky. A vibration shakes the shuttle as it leaves the atmosphere of the Earth. Outside, You take off and fly towards the heavens. Outside, Skies above Central America Breathtaking deserts, the megalopolis of Mexico City, and stunning beaches lie wide open for exploration if Transformers dare descend. The Central American nations have kept their teeth after the Militants' departure. Regular patrols by the Mexican Militia try but don't necessarily succeed in ensuring that Autobots are on their best behavior and that Decepticons stay out entirely. Lush mountain rainforests nestle about the Panama Canal. For the most part, flying weather tends to be predictable in a tropical sort of way. Closer to the equator, cumulus clouds dump plenty of rain, spiced up by the summer hurricanes that sometimes flounder into the Yucatan Peninsula. "Bahh," Raid grumbles, taking another swig of energon which spills all over him as the shuttle rocks and pitches. It's all he can do to keep from cursing. "Hnn, oi, did we get anyone to encrypt the frequency?" He /attempts/ to keep his voice low. * Said by Air Raid Hinder doesn't hear much else past the shuttle taking off, but figures that with Soundwave busy piloting she can relax. No way anyone would be able to mess with them NOW. She nibbles on the corner of the overlarge box again. Rewind just shakes his head and starts dealing cards for the trip to wherever. Polarity entertains himself on the trip by pulling out some metallic odds and ends and rearranging them with his magnetics into different shapes, making them spin and whirl about in midair in doing so and not having to actually touch them. Bored Seeker is bored. Isn't it time for a commercial break and skip ahead to the landing? Animation of Autoscout ejecting, rolling, and exploding for no readily apparent reason The Trans Formers will return after these messages. Animation of Soundwave transforming into a robot while inside Wheelie and making him explode. We now return to the Trans Formers. Slowly but surely, the image of the bluish purple world of Torqulon appears on the viewscreens. The engines quiet down, as the ship moves into orbit around the small planet. Outside, Deep Space - Galactic Plane Here in the murky depths of space, time seems to stand still. You do not move here, the universe moves around you. You are the pivot, the center of everything. And it is lonely to be such. Your optics ache for something to focus on, your mind reaches out for another life to touch, even if only for a moment. This is deep space. Outside Contents: Tazma IV Torqulon Outside, You descend towards the surface of Torqulon. Outside, Torqulon Spaceport Not very busy, this simple spaceport sees the occasional ship coming and going at irregular intervals. As there is no need for anything more complex, it consists of just a dark control tower constructed of native stone, a single but adequately-serviced launchpad, a private terminal for charter ships, and a rarely-used public terminal. Oddly enough, the security subsystems are state-of-the-art, and seem to be designed to keep people in, rather than out... Outside, Barren Plains The vast majority of the surface of Torqulon is an almost-completely barren plain. Winds constantly buffet the surface, sending dust and sand swirling around at high speeds. The only objects which prevent the plains from being completely barren are a number of green and purple pyramids, which seem to rise from the surface, resembling stone webs. The shuttle enters the atmosphere, rattling as it did before while escaping Earth's orbit. "Prepare and secure for landing." Soundwave says, as the ship autopositions itself in the upright landing position. You feel the descent of the ship slow, and the noise level in the ship cabin increases. Air Raid idly flips through his card hand, frowning at his selection. "Nah nah, reshuffle, I can't work with this. Wait, quiet!" He shushes the silent Rewind. "...I think we're slowing. 'Bout damn time." Polarity clasps his hands together, magnetizing all the bits and pieces he was playing with into one lump and ditching it back into subspace. Then tsks, waggling a finger playfully at Soundwave in the pilot's seat. "Ya forgot returning the seats and trays to their upright position." Rewind gathers up the cards and puts the deck away. "And calculating the travel time, I believe I know exactly where we have landed... unless the pilot took some wrong turns ofcourse." "Unlike earth creatures treat each other, your safety is not my responsibilty. In the event of a crash landing, likeliness is that you will all terminate each other trying to exit before impact." he says. It's difficult to tell with Soundwave what he's trying to get across, but it might be construed as humor. Air Raid rocks onto his feet, one palm on the crate and an audial against the slats, listening. "Okay tapeman, you call the shots... Where exactly have we landed? And it's ole' Sounders, he /doesn't/ take wrong turns." The shuttle touches down on the surface of the plannet, with a final jarring thud. The engines slower to an idle, then shut down. "We must determine a suitable spot for deployment of the research equipment." soundwave says, then turns to the workers who came on board. "Orders: Form a permiter around the shuttle. A party will be formed to find a suitable position." Polarity isn't one to enjoy sitting around, so he hops out of his seat as soon as the shuttle is settled on the ground. Gives that one crate an idle squint, but there's nothing out of the ordinary to it to himself so its just shrugged off as more hardware and left at that. Rewind headshakes. "A most unlikely place... Torqulon. A world dedicated to the function of insane asylum." Rewind rubs at the side of his head briefly, memory echos from his brief connection to the chaos that was the Giant Galvatron Head in orbit of Cybertron. He shivers at the thought of madness and being sent here. "Huh. Sounds... interesting," is all Raid can think to say, growing just as impatient as Polarity. He hasn't a clue of the game plan or what their object is, having been simply told to accompany Rewind as there weren't any other stealth 'bots about. "When do we start shooting people?" Rewind narrows his optics and says with a slightly gravelly voice, "You'll shoot only when I say." Oooh, menacing coming from a pipsqueak Tape. :p The exit hatch opens on the opposite side of the shuttle, much narrower than the loading door. Soundwave exits the shuttle, and the workers begin filing out behind him. Soundwave leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Polarity leaves the Decepticon Shuttle . Polarity has arrived. By this point Polarity is just following Soundwave out of boredom, and anticipation of whatever the crazy scheme is going to be in the end. And really hoping in the end that he eventually gets to shoot something. Barren Plains The vast majority of the surface of Torqulon is an almost-completely barren plain. Winds constantly buffet the surface, sending dust and sand swirling around at high speeds. The only objects which prevent the plains from being completely barren are a number of green and purple pyramids, which seem to rise from the surface, resembling stone webs. A hologram appears outside Soundwave's chest again, displaying a three dimensional map of the area. He touches the hologram, so it shows the rock strata of the planet. Meanwhile, the workers form a perimiter around the shuttle as ordered. Hinder has arrived. From Decepticon Shuttle , Air Raid chuffs, shifting his weight uncomfortably in the cramped space. This doesn't stop him from unspacing his rifle. "Well... Whenever you're ready." Polarity folds his arms and waits.. and waiting gets boring, fast. So he goes to lean over to try and see over Soundwave's shoulder... then moves to the other shoulder so he doesn't have to stare past the missile launcher, to look at the map. "Soooooo.. just what -are- we doing on this intergalactic nuthouse anyways?" From Decepticon Shuttle , Rewind thinks the Decepticons have vacated the shuttle and after a few minutes unlatches the inner catch of the crate to open it. "Smuggling ourselves onto a Decepticon Empire ship and ending up in the crazy corner of the galaxy. Tread lightly." From Decepticon Shuttle , Air Raid readily pops out of the crate, treading not-so-lightly though very alert, scanning the rest of the empty shuttle for any sort of surveillance. "Reason for coming to Torqulon, simple: Harnessing the contents of the planet for purposes of psyche-damaging weaponry. Obtaining required data, considerably more difficult." * Said by Soundwave "... So we're looking for more ways to screw with Autobots' heads?" Polarity's optics light up behind his visor. "Fun!" Soundwave ticks through a few more visuals on the hologram. "Complication, current data regarding this planet is insufficient to find a suitable deployment area. Fastest course of action will be to find a guide, or a databank containing the information." Soundwave says, "Nearest concentration of possible life forms to serve as guide: Torqulon Spaceport." Polarity resists the urge to facepalm. "Maybe we should of just landed there in the first place." "Alerting the inhabitants to our arrival: inadvisable" Soundwave says. "Inspection of cargo would be an immediate indication of our purpose on this planet. Likelihood of aggressive intent by natives were this to occur: ninety percent." From Decepticon Shuttle , Rewind picks a packing peanut out of his knee joint as he tries to overhear what is said outside. "Hm. The rest of the cargo is apparently fishy. Perhaps we should look for ourselves?" From Decepticon Shuttle , Air Raid shrugs and rests his rifle on his shoulder. "Alrighty. Let's see..." Jamming the butt of his gun against the lid of a crate, he pops it open and digs through the packing, none too quietly. Hinder has been sticking close to Soundwave, but now she hears something for the second time this trip. Tilting her head, she shuffles back toward the shuttle. From Decepticon Shuttle , Rewind startles at the lack of finese and the noise of Air Raid and growls, "Quiet, you imbecile!" Wow, what a mood swing. Harsh, little bookworm dude. He rushes to the crate and Air Raid to try to show him how to open it in a less clattering manner. Polarity mmmhmms a little... and then kinda looks blankly at Soundwave with a tilt of his head. "Sorry, yer loosin' me the more you get into making this secretive stuff. I'm just here to play guard and blow up anyone that comes along to stop you, after all." Hey at least he's truthful about it. Hinder tilts her head the other way, staring at the shuttle. Then she chirps out in mimicry of what she heard, which may seem odd and very out of place. "Quiet, you imbecile!" From Decepticon Shuttle , Air Raid appears taken aback. Ouch! "Sorry," he mutters, stepping aside. "Perhaps I'll just stand guard... Uh, was than an echo?" Soundwave turns toward the Shuttle again, hearing Hinder chirp. He eyes the shuttle, then motions for a few of the workers to head up the ramp to investigate. He heard every last detail of Hinder's mimicry. Polarity didn't, having neither the hearing or the attention to have picked up what's going on in the shuttle. Which results in the Seeker just looking confused at Soundwave's silent instruction to the generics, for the moment having become a background character to the scene. Really its nothing new when it comes to Seekers. From Decepticon Shuttle , Rewind releashes the latches and pries the side away from the rest of the slightly dented container, peering inside at the contents. "Now that's... bwaaaa!" The compressed energon containment... opened after taking a banging. Several dozen flats of Energon fall out and expand returning to cube shape on top of Rewind, burying him! While nobody is supposed to notice, Polarity is completely the wrong color scheme for a moment. From Decepticon Shuttle , "Uhh, uhh! Incoming!" Raid backpedals as the workers make their way through the hatch. Hoping to keep things /somewhat/ quiet, he attempts to thwack a poor gumby in the face with his gun, nearly stumbling over a cube in Rewind's mess. The animator probably got him confused with Ramjet for a moment, forgetting that Polarity is not a conehead and has a brighter shade of red. "Decepticons, protect the equipment!" Soundwave shouts with an open palm extended outward at the shuttle as if to grab at it. He runs toward the shuttle, hoping he can do something about the disturbance. It's pretty evident that if laser fire hits that energon, everyone will be space debris. Hinder watches the other Decepticons start toward the shuttle, but then dashes for the open hatch when Soundwave starts toward running as well. Something's happening! Excitement! You don't need super special senses to hear the start of a scuffle though, any soldier worth his salts can pick one of those up. Polarity kicks in his heel-thrusters, using them effectively as dash jets instead of taking flight to bolt past the blockier Communications officer and up to the shuttle entrance. Protect the equipment? Perfect orders. Polarity focuses his magnetic manipulations into a shield of repulsive energy .... But shapes the bubble around the most important looking pieces of equipment, being the chair and the strange antennaed device, instead of himself. Polarity enters the Decepticon Shuttle . Soundwave enters the Decepticon Shuttle . Hinder enters the Decepticon Shuttle . Decepticon Shuttle The interior of the shuttle is very roomy. There is a highly technical cockpit that seats numerous bots at various stations, and a huge cargo area for additional troops or equipment. As Soundwave enters the shuttle and sees the two /extremely/ clumsy autobots (what's the Energon doing all out on the floor?) his optics glow red with anger. "Autobot stowaways! Capture them! They must not interfere!" he yells to the generics. Rewind tumbles energon cubes off of himself making his way out of the pile. "Compressed energon cubes take up less than one quarter the space of an uncompressed cube...." He stops and sees the influx of Decepticons alerted and he snarls, "Air Raid! Get us out of here!" Well, if Polarity's shield doesn't make the prized goods more obvious, nothing will. But Raid isn't too focused on the crates at the moment. For an instant he takes aim at Polarity, but figures lasers wouldn't be wise with the energon strewn about. So again, he attempts to deck the seeker with his rifle. Combat: Air Raid sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Air Raid strikes Polarity with his Pistol Whip (Kick) attack! "Get us out? I can't pilot this thing! I thought you could pilot!" Raid retorts. Hinder clambers up the ramp last, and just in time to hear Soundwave's command. She's by no means a very good combatant, but that one mech there looks just about her size. So she darts around all of the big stompy feet in her way, aiming for Rewind with her mouth open and ready to chomp. Soundwave leaps for Air Raid as he turns to go after Polarity. "They must be detained!" he cries, attempting to subdue the preoccupied Arialbot. Combat: Soundwave strikes Air Raid with his Grab attack! Polarity oofs a bit as he gets wacked across the face with the butt end of Air Raid's gun, snapping his head sideways for a moment. Then turns it back towards the flyboy, smirking despite the dent put in his cheek. Soundwave goes to tackle him, and Hinder is going after the other tapebot, so instead Polarity edges by the scuffles to move closer to the equipment... partially so it's as much providing him some cover as it is covering the good stuff. Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Protected. Rewind turns upon the encroaching Hinder. In a cruel gravelly voice he declares, "You dare challenge the mighty Rewind?!" He levels his right arm, glances at it as if confused, and then shakes his head before moving to try to keep away from Hinder. "Air Raid, quit playing around. The odds are highly stacked against us!" Combat: Rewind sets its defense level to Guarded. "Decepticons! Return the energon to the containment unit!" Soundwave shouts, his voice quavering as he attempts to hang on to Air Raid. Air Raid yelps in surprise as Soundwave grapples him. "I'm not playing around!" he shouts as he thrashes, jerking his elbow back, hoping to shatter the glass of Soundwave's tape door. "Leggo' frag-face!" Combat: Air Raid misses Soundwave with his Smash attack! Detained? Okay! Hinder keeps bounding after Rewind, leaping to try and tackle him when she gets close enough. Combat: Hinder strikes Rewind with her Full contact tag! (Grab) attack! Tag! You're it! "Inferior Autobot! You will be first to be fed into the machine!" he says, as he attempts to inch Air Raid toward that big, scary looking chair. Meanwhile, the other Decepticons have managed to load about half of the energon back into the crate. Soundwave wrestles Air Raid backward. Rewind is struck and falls, rolling on the floor of the shuttle with the long bodied cassetticon. "Nnnnny'll rip out your fuel pump for this!" His hand opens claw like with rigid fingers and his drives it towards Hinder as if wanting to literally do just that. Combat: Rewind sets its defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Rewind strikes Hinder with its Tiger Technique (Grab) attack! Polarity could just dedicate all of his energy to keeping the magnetic repulsive field on the special equipment. But for one, that's really boring. For another, Polarity just has a hard time passing up the chance at a good joke. One hand remains pointed at the equipment to keep that field up. Polarity turns and points the other arm towards the fighters, extending a smaller but more direct magnetic field. And seeing Soundwave try to guide the Aerialbot towards the chair, attempts to grab Raid with the magnetic wave and more forcefully push him into it. "I think it's time for you to sit down and shut up!" Combat: Polarity sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Polarity strikes Air Raid with his Take a Seat! attack! -3 Combat: Polarity's attack has strange and mysterious effects on Air Raid. Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Air Raid's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Soundwave sets his defense level to Aggressive. Air Raid flails as he's yanked backwards, clawing desparately at Soundwave's arms. "Nnrghh, ain't in any mood to have a seat, ya' sunnuvaglitch!" Just as he manages to get some leverage, Polarity smacks him with a wave and locks him in the chair. "Ooooh, big scary chair!" he mocks, struggling. Combat: Air Raid takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Combat: Soundwave strikes Air Raid with his Grab attack! As Air Raid is pushed into the chair, the clasps lock his limbs and torso in place, but nothing else happens...for now. Hinder yips in surprise and mild pain as Rewind stabs at her with his bare hand. That was NOT nice! She turns her head to snap at the offending appendage. With the Aerialbot tossed in the chair, Polarity cackles gleefully at a successful trick. And lowers the forcefield from the rest of the equipment so Soundwave can get the chair to do whatever nasty things the chair was meant to do. "Sorry, you're going to have to just *butt* out now. Nyahahaha!" Combat: Polarity takes extra time to steady himself. Pass Combat: Hinder strikes Rewind with her Bad hand no cookie attack! Rewind roars out loud, "NYAAAAAAA!" His hand chomped upon by the rabid Decepti-vermin. His torso panels power up and Rewind unleashes a Light Beacon flash upon all of the shuttle occupants! Combat: Rewind strikes Hinder with its Light Beacon Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Hinder's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Rewind strikes Soundwave with its Light Beacon Area attack! Combat: You took 3 damage. Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Soundwave's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Rewind misses Polarity with its Light Beacon Area attack! Combat: Rewind's Light Beacon attack aimed for Air Raid backfires! Combat: Rewind strikes itself with its Light Beacon Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Rewind's Accuracy. (Blinded) Air Raid can only sit there, glowering at Polarity. "Rewind! A little HELP- holy slag!" In perhaps the swiftest reaction he's ever enacted, Raid deactivates his optics briefly, avoiding the flash of light. "..." The worker decepticons begin flailing blindly, making it difficult to move around. Conveniently, because he was taunting Air Raid in the chair, Polarity has his back towards the other fight, and the flash has no effect on the back of his head. "This is great! I -love- a captive audience." He looks partway over his shoulder. "Hey Soundwave, fire this sucker up so we can really let him -- Hey, watch it!", he blurts out, as one of the gumbies that was blinded in the flash stumbles into him. He staggers a step, then kicks the loser in the aft, knocking him back into the others. "Have some respect for the guy tormenting the captive here! Sheeesh!" He gives the incapitated grunts a dismissive wave with a flick of the wrist, and turns back to the Aerialbot. "What an illuminated experience, eh?" Hinder YEEKS at the blinding flash of light, tumbling away from Rewind and pawing at her optics in distress. Oh Primus. Now Raid remembers. This is the seeker with the /puns/. "Shut yer' stupid face, stupid-face!" He attempts to transform, but the chair prevents him from budging a servo. "BURN IN THE PITS!" he cries, absolutely enraged about being subdued. "Hinder, do not let him escape!", Soundwave says with emphasis. He attempts to wave his way through the mass of generics and toward the two cassettes, but in the cramped quarters of the shuttle and with all the combatants in the way, this is simply impossible. Hinder shakes her head harshly for a second when she hears Soundwave's shout and since her optics are still pinging errors from the flash of light, she listens for the sounds of Rewind moving. She's ready to pounce at anything she hears. The cussing and struggling just makes Polarity's smirk all the broader. "I know you are but what am I~?", he taunts back, quite happy to make Air Raid's predicament all the more miserable to bear. Then he takes a step back, rubbing his chin with two fingers. "There's still something missing ... aha!" Idea! Polarity pulls out one of his magnetic tags, this one having 'Cheap Imitation, Made In Korean' inscribed in it, and goes to slap it onto Air Raid's chest, cackling madly the whole time. Combat: Polarity strikes Air Raid with his Because Aerialbots are just Seeker Knockoffs anyways! (Grab) attack! Air Raid can barely move his helm to peer down at the tag. "Grrrghh! Why you...!! Imitation!? You smeltin' 'fridge magnet!" Gathering some energon in his mouth, he hawks it hopefully at Polarity's face. Combat: Air Raid strikes Polarity with his Energon Spit! (Grab) attack! Rewind rises and stumbles. He 'remembers' his way awkwardly towards an exit, groping his way. The flash-burns in his optics making his surroundings next to unseeable, he goes on instinct, something more defiant and chaotic and based on self preservation as well. Not very Autobot like at all. The open air of Torqulon is picked up by his sensors and he knows he's close to the way out. He turns and calls out to the mostly blind horde, "You may have won this battle, puny Decepticons, but I'll gather myself a mighty army and return for your heads. Farewell! Bwahahahahahahaha!" He turns. Combat: Rewind sets its defense level to Neutral. Combat: Rewind begins retreating, leaving itself vulnerable to parting shots from Air Raid, Soundwave, and Polarity Hinder casts about blindly for Rewind, but the moment he speaks up she homes in on him tries to charge at him. Sadly, she only manages to slam into the wall right next to him. "Gwah!" Not the most elaborate thing Polarity has said, jerking backwards as energon spittle gets all over his visor. He flails somewhat comically as he staggers and falls backwards over one of the gumbies fumbling around on all fours from being blinded. And possibly falls right over on top of Soundwave. "Idiotic son of a glitch!", the Seeker howls, his maliciously merry mood ruined. Combat: Polarity strikes Soundwave with his Cliche Pratfall (Grab) attack! Combat: You took 0 damage. Air Raid can't believe his optics. There goes Rewind! "Hey... HEY! Wait! ..." With a flicker of his optics, he simply gawks in shock, until Polarity topples over Soundwave. It's quite amusing, but Raid doesn't seem too keen on laughing. "Very graceful. Now release me and I promise I'll leave your face intact. But only that!" "Inferior model! Remove yourself!" Soundwave shouts. "Autobot, your time in the machine will be made 79.3 percent more painful for this!" :( Rewind leaps, arms outstretched as if launching for a flight, out the exit. He crashes to the ground outside, swears, and then runs off across the landscape of Torqulon like a madman. Polarity is -much- quicker about getting up off Soundwave than he would be if it'd been just some random crowd filler. "It's all -his- fault!" And kicks the guy he tripped over in the head and sends him sprawling once he's back on his feet. "Maybe that'll clear your head, ya tin can!" Hinder just sits where she slammed her head into the shuttle wall, momentarily stunned. Outside, Rewind has left. "RrrrRRGHH!" Raid can't quite aim with his rifle, but his fires at the ground nonetheless, making himself a nuisance of a hostage. *CRACK-CRACK* Pressure from the torque fractures a bit of the metallic floor. Having had enough of Air Raid's antics, Soundwave is thoroughly annoyed. If his optics weren't already red, they would be now. You think you see a little bit of anger smoke trailing from his audio receptors. He reaches out and yanks the rifles from the arms of Air Raid, then turns and hands them to Polarity. "Secure the Autobot weapons out of reach." he says, pausing. He looks at Air Raid, then the little "made in Korea" tag on Air Raid, then looks back at Polarity. "Inquiry: What forms of tag are you capable of generating, Polarity?" Polarity nods, taking the guns and going to lock them in a storage container on the other side of the shuttle. Then turns back to Soundwave, a bit of his usual smugness returning in a quirk of his metal lips as big blue takes note of his little bit of handiwork. "Don't matter, long as it's got a bit of metal in it, I can make it stick.. Just matters what you feel like putting on the strip, really." Soundwave points to the Autobot symbol on the chest of Air Raid. "Is it within your parameters to create three of these?" Air Raid audibly pouts when his gun is ripped from him. "I wasn't made in KOREA!" he blurts angrily. Polarity griiiiins manevolently. "Or we could rip his off~." Just the thought of farther tormenting the Aerialbot makes him giggle. Evil, psychotic sounding giggling, mind you. ".. Or just make them, yeah. As long as they're metallic, no problemo." Hinder finally shakes off the disorientation of having slammed into the wall and shuffles over to lean against the more convenient of Soundwave's ankles. "YOU GIGGLE LIKE A SCHOOL-FEMME!" Raid feels the need to shout. Polarity should of put the tag over his mouth, maybe. "And your mouth makes more noise than your engines do!" Polarity snaps right back. "Explanation: We will duplicate this Autobot's insignia. The Autobot will insist that we are who we really are. Analysis: We will look to the inhabitants of the spaceport as three Autobots here to treat their malfunctioning...friend." he says, turning to Air Raid with this last word. "This will allow us to obtain the assistance of the guide we require, all without raising the suspicion of the locals. How does it feel to be your allies' undoing, Autobot?" "Oooo, that is delightfully devious!" That's practically pranking the entire planet with the ol' dress up as someone else routine. He's so all over that. Polarity rubs his hands together in anticipation, and goes back to the shuttle storage cabinents. "Just let me find some scrap metal and red spraypaint." Air Raid snarls and thrashes, "It'll never work, aft-hat! Nnghh, you'll pay for this! FRAG YOU ALL!" He can do naught but glare, ailerons twitching angrily. "They'll come back, and when they do, ain't none a' ya' gettin' away!" Hinder just keeps leaning against Soundwave's ankle, content to stand quietly for the moment. "Use the contents of that crate...there." Soundwave says. "It will not be needed, as the Autobots must have disposed with the simulator contained in the crate used for their transport here." He reaches down and pets Hinder twice. "Yes, Hinder, your efforts alerting us to these stowaways will be our way in to the untapped power of this planet. Even that inferior spool of chromium that calls himself an Autobot cannot ... hinder...our progress." Very uncharactaristically, Soundwave stares straight into Air Raid's optics, and lets out a slow, unsettling disharmonic cackle. Air Raid squares his jaw and glares right back with a hard gaze... but he eventually falls silent. Hinder leans up against Soundwave's hand as he pets her, almost like a cat would. After spending so much of her first year of existence afraid of her creator and avoiding him, it's really nice to hear him say something nice. Polarity nods eagerly and magnetically picks up the crate, moving it to a more open area of the shuttle so he can get to work on the little project Soundwave gave him to do.